The science in the sci-fiction film The Space Between Us is purely a set up-for what the film really wants to be: a goofy young adult romance with buckets of sentimentality.
An astronaut leading a mission to colonise Mars realises mid-flight that she is pregnant. The birth of Gardner (Asa Buterfield) is kept a secret from the world. When Gardner returns to Earth, he is easily able to escape the clutches of scientists and meet up with Tulsa (Britt Robertson), a lonely girl he met online. Together, the duo drive across America in search of his father.
Allan Loeb’s screenplay draws on everything from 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde to 1982’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Loeb and director Peter Chelsom seem to be aiming for a version of The Fault in Our Stars, and thus any plot element that might pose an impediment to the teenage romance aspect is given short shrift.
Despite the technology at the disposal of Nathaniel Shepherd (Gary Oldman), who was in charge of the original Mars mission, the teenagers refuse to be found. They spend their time dancing in the moonlight and making out in the wilderness. It is in their relationship that the film comes to life. Butterfield turns in a charming performance as the awkward fish-out-of-water geek in love with the hopelessly attractive and impulsive biker. Robertson, too, is able to bring charm to the somewhat clunky dialogue she is handed. The duo bring humour to their interactions, which is the film’s saving grace.
The space part of the title barely works. But at least the between us moments do.